


Moral Crimes

by saint_troll



Series: Chronicles of Riddick and Sniper 470 [2]
Category: Chronicles of Riddick (2004), Sniper 470 (2005)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-09-06
Updated: 2005-09-06
Packaged: 2017-10-26 11:21:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/282452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saint_troll/pseuds/saint_troll
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A continuation...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Moral Crimes

**Author's Note:**

> Transferring my work from livejournal to here.
> 
> **Also: LOTR actor names borrowed in place for the unnamed of Sniper 470**  
> 
> 
> * * *

Billy awoke to the sounds of Riddick growling at the controls. His brain registered the flashing red lights moments later. He clamored into the nav seat as fast as his sleep-stiffened body allowed.

"I could try and deduct what's happening or you could tell what this says..."

"Three ships came up behind us while we slept. I managed to get two of them..."

"Why didn’t you wake me?"

Grunting at him, Riddick continued. "The third ship is preparing to board us fucking lucky we weren't in cryo-sleep… now’s not the time…” He stood and withdrew both of his shivs. “Get one of the guns… now.”

Leaping up, Billy grabbed gun and ammo off its storage on the wall.

“Can you see them well enough in this light? Riddick inquired.

“Aye… I can make out the shape of a body… and that’s all I need…”

Billy took position beside a panel while Riddick stood beside the door waiting for it to slide open.

***

In the seconds that followed, Billy could only stare at the scene in astonishment. Riddick took out the first two men before they even noticed him standing there. He watched in morbid fascination as their blood spilled upon the floor. With another lightening fast move, one of Riddick’s shivs was stuck deep within the gut of the third man. Billy aimed carefully at the next two men taking them out before the got through the door. Riddick’s eyes flashed at him as he maneuvered onto the docked ship to check for more men. Noticing he’d been holding his breath, Billy gasped audibly taking in as much air as he could before willing himself to silence once more. This felt all to familiar. All that was lacking was footsteps. Clenching his jaw tight, he forced himself to keep his eyes open.

“That was all of them… Come help me gather some supplies…” Riddick ordered as he stepped over the bodies.

His breathing fast, Billy allowed himself to close his eyes. If only to prevent himself from trembling.

“Billy…?” Riddick asked quietly as he leaned over and turned up the lighting.

Opening his eyes, Billy stuttered, “S… supplies? “

“There’s a sniper rifle in there I think you’d fall in love with, soldier boy…”

Billy snorted at the nickname. “Tool of the trade… not exactly my love… might convince me if you tell me there’s a guitar in there...”

Smiling Riddick offered his hand. Billy followed him coyly. He paused before the bodies. Riddick pushed a couple to the side with a swift, powerful kick clearing a path and waited patiently for Billy to follow him.

“We can put them and the others in this ship when we undock them…”

His face paling, Billy nodded. He barely held back to vomiting after they’d crossed the thresh-hold. Please don’t let him coddle me, I couldn’t bear it. Forcing back his disgust, Billy scanned his eyes over the surroundings. The same Meccan script covered the controls, however, it looked more technologically advanced than the already impressive ship they’d been held captive on. He gasped when he saw his likeness on the display. Catching Riddick’s eyes, he nodded curiously towards it.

“Your payday…” Riddick tapped a few buttons. He stopped scanning further down the file and faced Billy.

“A conviction of a moral crime…” A smirk flashing across his face as he read on. “So… Billy boy… committing moral crimes on your world would entail what?”

His discomfort growing, Billy back away from Riddick. Still, he didn’t answer.

“What are morals to man like me… come now… don’t be ashamed… what did you do to earn such a glaring mark on your military record… one that someone felt necessary to post on your payday?”

Grabbing a gun off of the wall and slinging it over his shoulder, Billy met Riddick’s eyes. “A moral crime is an act of sexual deviance in accordance to the laws of the church.”

“Religious and money-hungry… nice place you’re from…”

“Yeah… well… they did abandon me for dead on an asteroid with only cockroaches for company…”

Riddick casually gathered a couple more guns and ran his fingers over a case of rations. “Still haven’t told me what your moral crime was…”

"I'm a bleeding poof… that was my crime…” Billy replied exasperated.

"Earth slang?"

Billy could hardly hold back his chuckle. "What… we did earlier… is considered a moral crime…"

Cocking his head to the side, Riddick frowned at him. "And still you fought for their cause…"

"At least I was allowed to fight… there was a time when I would not have been allowed."

"Is that why you were stationed on the asteroid?"

Shaking his head, Billy replied. "No… my 'crime' was overlooked because of my skills…" He thoughtfully chewed on his lip. "But… if that’s in my file… then Earth played some part in the payday… does it say anything about who ordered the bounty?"

"Just a Commander in the Coalition…" He answered. "Expecting someone specific…?"

"Considering the information in there… yes.

Riddick positioned himself in front of Billy. "You do realize that I don't think of that as crime…"

Billy laughed quietly. "Thought never occurred to me… I just figured… well… you'd judge me by my people…" Riddick’s goggled eyes burned him with they steady heated gaze.

"Do you want to know the commander’s name?"

Shaking his head at Riddick, Billy just enjoyed the man’s somewhat odd sense of timing and humor. "Why not…"

Billy was thankful the gun was strapped over his shoulder when Riddick spoke again or else it would have crashed dangerously to the floor. Despite Riddick’s mispronunciation, the name hit Billy like a punch to the gut.

"Dominic Monaghan…"

***

 

The initial shock transformed into unexplainable gun-wrenching fear as Billy turned his gaze to the bodies piled at the door. Was Dom among them?

"Familiar name...?"

His expression grim, Billy's eyes remained focused on the bodies. "How likely is it that... Dominic would have been on this ship... or the other two?"

Riddick looked over the interior before answering. "These aren't like any military crafts I know..."

Billy laid his gun on the floor before inching towards the bodies. He knew he was visibly trembling as he reached out to check the face of one of the men he'd shot. Fuck all if he cared. A dark, heavy feeling settled into his stomach. He'd never even seen their faces before he'd fired. Swallowing back vomit, he checked the face of every man they'd stopped from boarding them. His hands red with the blood from Riddick's kills, he backed away. Satisfied that Dom was not among them, Billy collapsed against the ship walls and let out everything he'd held back from Riddick in fear of seeming weak.

Angry tears fell from his eyes and he pulled his knees to his chest. Dom. This... all of this was because of him. The reason for the mark on his record. The reason he'd accepted this assignment. The reason the mercs had boarded him. The reason he'd now not only murdered thousands by proxy, but also three by his own hands. Billy let the anger envelope him. Soon his tears were dry.

He calmly stood and walked over to the nav seat and looked over his payday. Through out all of this, Riddick had remained silent merely observing Billy.

"Show me how to read this..." Billy said pointing towards the screen.

"You want me to teach you Meccan now?" Riddick replied coldly. "We're still docked... in case you haven't noticed we have bodies to dispose of..."

"I'm a fast study... you gonna help me or not?" He spat back.

"Fine..." Riddick snorted as he punched up a screen and entered thirty-eight symbols. "The first ten are numbers... the rest letters." He sounded each letter out to Billy, his patience growing thin.

If Billy hadn't been still reeling from the aftermath of... everything, he would have laughed at the simplicity of Meccan. Under better circumstances, he may have even questioned how such an alien language could be so very similar to Earth's Germanic languages. The symbols suddenly snapped together in his mind. It all made sense.

Turning to his payday screen, he scrolled down and pointed to a line. "This is Dominic's name?"

Smirking Riddick glanced at the screen. His momentary silence allowed that he clearly had not expected what he saw. "How the fuck...?" He pointed at another line.

"Sniper 470." Billy answered.

Riddick pointed again.

"Edinburgh, Scotland, non-coalition planet z4815."

He couldn't help himself. Riddick was staring. So many things about this soldier had shocked him, but this topped them all. "So... who is this guy?"

"Long story short... my Johns... except I haven't slit his throat..." Billy replied, his eyes never leaving the monitor as he punched through screen after screen absorbing as much as his brain would allow.

"Why wasn't he discharged... he have some skill at something... like you?"

"He's younger than me... it was seen as... corruptor/corruptee..."

He anger returning, Billy's fingers pressed more aggressively at the controls. "I took the fucking assignment to get away from it all... from him. And what fucking good did it do me? My family... I can never go back... all because of him... bloody high price for a half-remembered drunken night..."

His accent thickening with every mutter soon became unintelligible to Riddick's ears. He cleared his throat. "So what are you doing... and if you say going after him... I'm gonna tie you to that nave seat in there until you level out."

Billy glared at him. "And what do you think I should do?"

"Is he worth losing your life over by going after him? Do you care for him?"

Pausing his frantic typing, Billy looked over at Riddick. "I won't break my word to you..."

"Not what I was asking..."

"Look. He and I had worked together and known each other for years before the coalition war ever started..." Billy punched the panel unexpectedly. "How the fuck could he do this to me?!"

The panel cracked. Riddick's eyebrows shot up. Standing, Billy tore the monitor from its stand and threw it at the bodies. When he leaned down to pick up the gun, Riddick grabbed him.

"Let me go."

"No."

"I mean it Riddick. Let. Me. Go."

"What are you gonna do? Whimper? We both know where that'll get us. You aren't getting a gun until you cool the fuck down."

Billy brought a knee sharply up into Riddick's side just below his ribcage. A startled gasp escaped his lips, but he didn't release Billy. After numerous kicks and maneuvers, he collapsed against Riddick in defeat...


End file.
